1942 Desoto Radio

[Doc Hubler]

I had a bit of a mystery regarding the radio in my 42 Desoto Club Coupe. The radio in the dash clearly didn't seem quite right. it was the typical type that Chrysler used, but between the pushbuttons and the dial face, there should clearly have been a piece of the dash that covered that unfinished part of the radio. Now, I have taken the radio out and it is clearly a Philco radio Model C-1808 which was used in all Chrysler cars in 1941, not 1942. I have since looked up other pictures and confirmed this. The 1942 radios were made by Philco or possibly Motorola (also 8 tube radios) and next to the pushbuttons the face is wider, eliminating the need for a finish piece. I have also purchased a 1941 Desoto radio grille that had an electric clock that I plan to fix up for my 42, and that fits the radio perfectly.

I know for a fact that the radio wasn't replaced anytime recently, and if it had been replaced in the 40s or 50s, it seems they would have gone for a 46-48 version which was newer. Hence my guess is that this is the radio that was originally installed in the car. It seems doubtful that it would have come from the factory that way -- they should have had enough radios of the proper style (C-1908), and indeed after 1942 the radio manufacturers were left with so many unused radios they actually installed them in furniture for home use. My best guess is that this is all the dealer out in eastern Washington had when the car was sold new and the buyer requested a radio be installed.

Can anyone help me find a correct 1942 radio for this car? Even a proper 1942 clock would be great, although the one I have will work with a little cleaning and oiling.

Will post pictures of all of this if there is any interest. I'm finding a few other inconsistencies between Desoto sales literature and what the car has. More questions to follow.

Thanks,

Tim

[Guest WEB 38]

Hi, I Have a 41 Desoto that I purchased last fall It came with a couple extra radios. Not sure which is correct. Can you post a pic. of what you need? Bill

[Doc Hubler]

Bill,

Thanks. I actually have determined that my car had a 41 radio which does "fit", but not exactly. I will post a picture of it here soon. I need a 42 radio, or possibly 46-48 will work as well. The radio grille on the 41 and 42 are very similar but not the same. 41 has some woodgrained areas, does not have the map light, and had a center strip between radio pushbuttons and face of the radio which trims out the radio properly. The other major difference is the logo on the grille. For 41, it matches the ornament on trunk and hood; for 42 it is like a medallion that says "Custom" for my car. As my note above says, I need a model C-1908 radio which is what was used for all chrysler products in 1942. If the radio is in reasonably good shape, you can take the cover off and find the model number on a sticker label on the inside of the cover. They were all 8 tube radios that year as I understand it.

[Guest WEB 38]

Doc, My 41 has the radio delete in it, I have 3 radios that came with the car, One has a space between the dial face and the buttons it is marked as a 40 plymouth the other two have no space between the dial face and the buttons and are not marked Bill

[Doc Hubler]

Web38,

I've added some pictures here.

Picture 1 shows a 1941 radio grille with the radio out of my 1942 car, which fits perfectly (because the radio in my car was a 1941 model)

Picture 2 shows the 1941 radio grille that I bought as a separate item to obtain the electric clock.

Picture 3 shows the radio that was in my car, which is a 1941 model. Note that the center strip in the 1941 grill covers up the part between the dial and buttons.

Picture 4 shows the 1942 Desoto Custom radio grille in my car. note that the area is larger for the radio.

Picture 5 shows the model/sticker inside the radio. Confirms it is a 1941 radio, Model C-1808

Picture 6 shows another 1942 dash with radio. The freqencies are listed as usual but along with numbers next to the buttons. The dial face is about twice as large. Think this type was used for several years, with some variation in the faces.

My conclusion, based on all evidence is that my car had the 1941 style radio installed from when it was new. The radio looks practically brand new inside (probably works, just haven't tested it yet). Nothing looked disturbed under the dash. My best guess is the buyers requested the radio be installed by the dealer, but all they had was the 1941 model, which was the same as the 42 except for the face/trim. They used 8 tube Philco radios for all models of DPDC those years. Motorola was another manufacturer/supplier of radios for DPDC, but I think Philco was the main one. You have to take the cover off the radio and look at the labels. There is a good website for determining years for Philco radios up to WWII (Philcoradio.com - Philco Auto Radios ). My car should have a C-1908 model.

[Guest WEB 38]

Doc, The one that I have marked 40 ply is an exact match to your 41 desoto radio. The other two look like the 42 that you show in the dash. The two have a slight differance on the dail face one has larger numbers. I cant make out the numbers on your picture. Your grill is the same as mine. I Will try and send some pictures. Bill

[Doc Hubler]

They are not exactly the same if it is indeed a 1940 plymouth radio. For Philco models, a 1940 Plymouth would be either a C-1550 or C-1708; both are 6 tube radios. The other two radios that you have are probably are 42-48 models. You have to look at the tags inside to get manufacturer and model number to determine the year. They might also be Motorola brand. 41 and 42 radios are 8 tube radios, essentially a high end radio for the time. The 41 and 42 Desoto radio grilles look the same except for the radio slot and the logo in the center, but actually the 42 has other differences. There is a slot on the bottom side for a map light that the 41 does not have. Also, 42 is all chrome (with red painted highlights like 41), but 41 had some of those areas woodgrained (beneath/around radio dial face and on front of ashtray).

[c49er]

A couple poor pics of a 42 S10 DeSoto radio/center dash.

[Guest WEB 38]

The 3 radios that I have are imbossed on the bottoms Mopar 602, Mopar 802,and Mopar 800. Bill

[Doc Hubler]

You have to take the cover off of teh radios and look at the tag inside to get the model number. I'm not sure what the Mopar number means except 6 and 8 tube radios. It is the two 8 tube radios I would be interested in.

[TerryB]

I have an original 1941 MOPAR multi page sales book for radios. It shows Models 800, 600 and Universal as the three factory radios available in 1941. Model 800 was top of the line, next the Model 600, and last the Universal fit radio. As stated, the model 800 has 8 tubes and the 600 has six tubes. It also said these radios will fit both 1940 and 1941 models. To use the buttons to select stations you pull off the number covers and then use a coin or screwdriver to set the station you want for each number. Reapply the cover and you are ready to go. Also, there is a music select mode on the model 800 that makes the display change colors depending on what tone type you set. Music is one color, voice is another and mellow is a third color. Quite an accomplishment for 1941 to have these options. Also mentioned is a place in the model for a "coming upgrade" option that is not stated in the book. Maybe this was FM?? Interesting reading! Terry

[Ron42Dodge]

Doc,

The correct radio for the 42 Mopars is the 601 and the 801. 601 was a 6 tube radio and the 801 was an 8 tube radio that got better reception. The 801 had more buttons also. It is very similar to the 802 which was for the 46 - 48 models.

The 802 had chrome push buttons where the 801 had had ivory button faces with chrome surrounds. The 802 had a black glass dial where the 801 had a brown glass dial.

The radios had 3 tone settings and at night with the dash lights on, the radio face would change colors as you changed the tone setting.

Philco got stuck with a bunch of radios when the war broke out and the car production was halted. Since metal was rationed they built a wood end table and mounted the radios in the top of the table, buttons facing up. They had to change the transformer to 120V and eliminate the vibrator. These radios sometimes show up on ebay but usually the plastic ivory button faces are bad when they came out of a car. But the ones that come out of the a801 table top radio tend to be nicer, but require electrical reworking for 6 volt.

Edited June 11, 2013 by Ron42Dodge (see edit history)

[42 DeSoto Fifth Avenue]

Ron42Dodge is right about the 801 and 601 radios for the 1942 DeSotos. In my files somewhere I have a dealer parts brochure with instructions for installing the 801/601 on a 1941 DeSoto. It directs the dealer to cut out the bar to open out the slot for the face of the radio!

Ed

[Doc Hubler]

Sure, but your brochure didn't say to install a 1941 model radio in a 42 desoto. That's what my car had. Anyway, I had read elsewhere that only 8 tube radios were offered for Desoto in 42. I have the radio I need, just need to get it refurbished. Eventually if someone is interested, I have a dash with working electric clock and correct 1941 radio that I will sell.